1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bio-impedance measurement apparatus, and relates more particularly to a bio-impedance measurement apparatus having wireless communication capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the 1950s, Dr. Reinhard Voll studied acupuncture points and discovered there are nearly 2000 acupuncture points on the skin of a human body, and those acupuncture points are distributed along the paths called meridians. In accordance with traditional Chinese medicine theory, the meridians are channels for transmission of energy, and the transmitted energy is known as “chi.” Western research discovered that acupuncture points can be identified by low direct current resistance of the skin. In other words, acupuncture points are specific superficial anatomic locations. At these locations, the skin resistance is lower than that of the surrounding skin. Dr. Voll further discovered that organ health can be determined by the measurement of the impedance of acupuncture points corresponding to specific organs. In addition, electric therapy studies showed that when therapy signals are repetitively directed into acupuncture points, the impedance of the acupuncture points can be restored, and the corresponding organs can be treated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,146, U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,338, U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,617, U.S. Pat. No. 6,735,480 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0,197,555 disclose treatment methods or methods of monitoring the health of human bodies using acupuncture points. Conventionally, a bio-impedance measuring device and a metal probe are applied to measure the impedance of acupuncture points. Such measurement is non-invasive and the metal probe does not pierce the subject's body, and one acupuncture point can be measured in each measurement. However, the accuracy of traditional bio-impedance measuring devices is adversely affected by poor electrical contact between the probe and the skin. Usually, when one acupuncture point is measured, several measurements at different nearby locations are required so as to obtain stable and reliable skin resistance information.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, Dr. Voll discovered many electrically conductive points (acupuncture points) on the hands and feet of the human body. Because traditional bio-impedance measuring devices can manually measure only one acupuncture point at a time, thus measuring the acupuncture points of hands and feet of a human subject to obtain stable and reliable skin resistance information is very time-consuming.
Furthermore, acupuncture points lie under the thick cuticle of the skin so that impedance is often measured higher than its true value, causing erroneous measuring results.
Due to the disadvantages of traditional bio-impedance measuring devices, a new, more efficient and reliable bio-impedance measuring device is needed.